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One sheet vintage
vaudeville poster advertising the performance of the English-born conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton. The poster bills them as "The Sensation of Vaudeville" and "San Antonio's Siamese Twins".
About Daisy and Violet Hilton
Early Life & Exploitation: Born in 1908 in Brighton, England, the twins were joined at the hips and buttocks, sharing a circulatory system. Rejected by their biological mother, they were adopted and ruthlessly exploited by their "guardian," Mary Hilton, who displayed them for money from infancy and forced them to perform to packed houses.
Vaudeville Stars: They became highly popular vaudeville performers, sharing the stage with stars like Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin. They were trained in music, with Violet playing the saxophone (as depicted in the poster) and Daisy the violin.
Emancipation: With the help of Harry Houdini, they sued their managers for freedom and won legal emancipation and damages in 1931 at the age of 23.
Later Career & Death: Their fame faded with the decline of vaudeville, but they appeared in the film Freaks (1932) and the semi-biographical Chained for Life (1951). They eventually settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, and worked quietly as grocery store clerks. They died there in their home in January 1969 from the Hong Kong flu. |
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